The First Lady

Melania Trump and the Hand-Graze Seen Round the World

Melania and Donald Trump arrive at the Israeli President's Residence in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017.

By Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images.

Since Donald Trump’s first international trip began on Friday, we’ve heard tell of Trump’s speech on the entire religion of Islam (more measured than expected) and the orb (it is president of the United States now). But Melania Trump is on this long, strange trip, too. What’s she up to? How’s she faring over there?

The most viral evidence suggests things aren’t going great. On Monday, the Trumps arrived in Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara received them. As the group walked down the literal red carpet that was rolled out for them, there was this slap heard around the world:

Does it look like the First Lady swatted her husband’s hand away? Maybe it does, but that’s not what happened there. Run back the tapes. Trump looks over at what Mr. Netanyahu is doing—holding his wife’s hand—and tries to mimic it. Melania refuses the offer because she gets what it means to be a true American. Though surely she wants to hold her husband’s hand, Melania knows that fierce independence is the way of this country. Listen, if the cameras weren’t on her, that’s the first thing she’d do. “Hold Trump’s hand” is right there at the top of her to-do list, right above “gaze into each others’ eyes with believable affection.”

Before getting to Israel, the big Melania news was that she skipped the head scarf while in Saudi Arabia. Depending on who you asked, the choice either meant our First Lady was valiantly refusing to bend to the will of the Saudis or she was disrespecting the country’s culture. Fortunately for public relations, though, neither are true. Many female politicians as well as first ladies—from Angela Merkel to Michelle Obama—have forgone a head scarf in visits past.

As if anything means anything anymore, though, here’s her husband’s take on the matter from two years ago:

Otherwise, Mrs. Trump kept busy. She wasn’t allowed in the all-male Toby Keith concert, but visited a GE service center, where “great strides” are made toward the “empowerment of women,” and an American international school.

And Melania took part in the orb ceremony, standing behind Trump, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as they touched the orb, which was apparently “a globe,” and was meant to signify the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology to monitor extremist messaging online from the capital of Riyadh. Melania didn’t actually touch it, so she likely still has her soul. That’s unconfirmed, though.

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